NEW YORK – Hillstream BioPharma on Monday said that under an exclusive option agreement with the nonprofit Applied Biomedical Science Institute (ABSI), it will be able to access technology necessary to build a pipeline of next-generation HER2- and HER3-targeting anticancer therapies.
ABSI's technology is designed to target functional epitopes of HER2 and HER3 — dubbed conformational domain bridging epitopes — that differ from the epitopes targeted by currently approved anti-HER2 therapies. Bridgewater, New Jersey-based Hillstream has the option to exclusively license ABSI's technology to develop HER2- and HER3-targeting antibodies against drug-resistant cancers such as HER2-positive metastatic breast, gastric, lung, and ovarian tumors.
If it exercises the option, Hillstream will be able to use the technology to develop different kinds of HER2-targeted therapies including bi- and tri-specific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, CAR T-cell therapies, CAR NK-cell therapies, and therapies that incorporate Hillstream's tumor-targeting platform Quatramer and its antibody-drug nano-conjugates, Quatrabodies. Hillstream's Quatramer and Quatrabody technologies are designed to extend the duration of action of targeted cancer drugs while minimizing their off-target toxicity.
"This agreement allows Hillstream to build our antibody platform to advance our immune-oncology biologic pipeline with HER2 and HER3 agents targeting highly aggressive drug-resistant metastatic tumors representing a major unmet need for patients," Hillstream CEO Randy Milby said in a statement.
The companies didn't disclose the financial terms of the agreement.